Reading for June 10th

 
Read 2 Samuel 24.10-25. In verses 10-14: David is given a choice of these punishments. He chooses the hand of the Lord, an idiom for plague, trusting in the Lord's mercy. In verses 15-16: David's strategy works. The plague is stopped after only one day. The appointed time (v. 15) maybe the time of the evening meal. Evil (v. 16) is not moral evil but destruction. Araunah is called Ornan in 1 Chr 21. A threshing floor was a flat, high area where grain was separated from chaff. In the Bible, God often appears to people at threshing floor (Judg 6.11-12). In verse 17: The sheep are the people of Jerusalem. These verses indicate that the plague was stopped after David built his altar and made his offerings rather than by the the Lord's free will as in v. 16. The site of David's altar is the location of the later altar of burnt offering of Solomon's Temple. Fifty shekels (v. 24) was about one and quarter pounds. Comments or Questions..